Palladium Books® Weekly Update – July 5, 2012

By Kevin Siembieda

I hope you don’t mind if I start this Weekly Update off with some exciting, personal news.

My daughter, Monica, gave birth to her first child this morning

Chloe, a beautiful baby girl! Chloe Sage Stanfield arrived two weeks early at 2:02 A.M., July 5, 2012, at a weight of five pounds, 10 ounces. The proud father, Steven, was gushing with delight when we spoke this morning. We are all very excited. Monica, Steven and Chloe live in Arizona, so I cannot just run over, but I am as happy as can be for them. This is the first baby born to either of my children.

There was some concern as the baby was breach and the umbilical cord was wrapped around the neck. But all went well and mother and child are doing great! Awesome.

And the good news keeps coming

UPDATE: Robotech®

You haven’t heard us talk about Robotech® much lately, because we have been secretly working on some big plans for that game line. As you know, I try to keep you informed about everything going on at Palladium Books®. However, sometimes we just can’t reveal our plans or projects for strategic business reasons. For example, we didn’t want a competitor trying to swoop in on Robotech® if we talked too much about our plans. Moreover, we get some fan complaints when we talk about an upcoming project and it gets delayed, or worse, it falls through. We didn’t want that to happen with Robotech®, so we quietly stopped talking about the line but kept working on things behind the scenes. Well, I can finally give you an exciting update.

This week, Palladium Books signed a deal to expand its current Robotech® license with Harmony Gold USA, Inc., including the right to produce and sell pewter game pieces of Robotech® mecha and spaceships. This has been one of the secret projects we’ve been working on for months. Our thanks to Tom Roache, Jon Paulson, Jeff Burke and Carmen Bellaire, along with many others, for their help with our investigation and research on the subject. How soon can you expect to see 1/285 scale mecha available? Probably not until next year sometime. We’ll keep you posted. Sculptors wanted.

But that’s not all

Robotech®: Genesis Pits Sourcebook is slated for final production and will probably see release before Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames. This entire time, Irvin Jackson has been working on two more Robotech® sourcebooks, and another freelancer is fooling around with other ideas for Robotech® sourcebooks that we are not yet ready to announced. (We don’t know if they are going to happen or not, yet.) I plan to give the Robotech® Role-Playing Game series a big push and a lot more love, attention and products over the next 18 months.

UPDATE: The Rifter® #59 – goes to the printer tomorrow

Wayne is laying out The Rifter® #59 even as you read this. It goes to the printer tomorrow. It’s another great issue, with material for Splicers®, Rifts® Xiticix, Techno-Wizardry across the Megaverse®, the second half of the Kezel, a Palladium Fantasy® adventure and more. See the full description for this issue elsewhere in this Weekly Update. A July release! Goes to the printer Friday, July 6.

UPDATE: Rifts® Black Market

I have been hot as Hades on the writing of Rifts® Black Market™ and artists are working away to depict the material. The book is epic and I think the source material it contains is going to surprise and blow people away. I think gamers will love the way we’re handling the Black Market O.C.C.s, and you’ll go wild over the wealth of information, the five factions, the inner workings of the organization, the new weapons and other gear . . . this book has it all. AND best of all, a lot of it can be easily adapted to just about any world setting. Rifts® Black Market has unexpectedly become a team collaboration, with something like six different writers contributing to it in the best ways possible. I’m making sure it all fits together seamlessly and having a blast working with all these talented and imaginative guys: Matthew Clements, Taylor White, Carmen Bellaire, Julius Rosenstein and Alex Marciniszyn. And artwork coming in so far has been excellent. A July release!

UPDATE: Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook

The writing on Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook is shaping up nicely, but a bit slower as I’m bent on finishing Rifts® Black Market. I’m working on both titles simultaneously so they can be released a few weeks apart. The new art for this bad boy is looking sharp too. We’ve got one stunning book after another coming out. A July release!

UPDATE: Rifts® Northern Gun™ One

Rifts® Northern Gun™ One and Rifts® Northern Gun™ Two are both going to knock your socks off the way Rifts® Lemuria did. They are nothing short of epic. We are dying to see Chuck Walton’s finished artwork for it. Meanwhile, I have Carl Gleba and Carmen Bellaire writing additional weapons and equipment, and the book is going to be epic.

UPDATE: Northern Gun™ Two

We should get John Zeleznik’s finished cover in a week or two. Chuck is working on the art for this bad boy too. Northern Gun™ Two is shaping up to be as amazing as Northern Gun™ One is going to be. Whew, the Palladium creative forces are on fire!

Rifts® Northern Gun™ TWO Megaverse® Insider offer

– Advance notice – it starts next week, July 12, 2012

Yeow, that’s coming up fast. As I’ve said before, we had originally planned to do the both titles as “one” Rifts® Northern Gun™ Megaverse® Insider offer. But a number of you contacted us and requested that we not do it as one offer, but two, a month apart. The reason was that many of you wanted to get both Northern Gun™ ONE and Northern Gun™ TWOMegaverse® crowdfunding items, but could not afford to purchase both at the same time. What many of you had suggested was that we split the Northern Gun™ crowdfunding into two offers a month apart so you could afford both. Always wanting to please our customers, that’s what we have done. Having said we only intend to do 3-4 crowdfunding offers a year, and not wanting to do one during the Christmas season, we decided these two Northern Gun™ crowdfunding offers would be the last for the year 2012. So the LAST crowdfunding offer of 2012 – the Rifts® Northern Gun™ TWO Megaverse® Insider offer – starts next Thursday. We’ll present all the details next week. Note: All limited edition prints and sneak peeks in EACH offer are unique and different from the previous ones.

UPDATE: Available on DriveThruRPG.com

As soon as we can do one, we’ll be making a FREE Sneak Preview of Rifts® Black Market available. That might be as soon as the end of next week. Many back issues of The Rifter® are available on DriveThruRPG.com (issues #1-52), as are more than 90 out of print titles such as Rifts®, BTS™ and Palladium Fantasy® first edition rule books and sourcebooks. A sneak preview of Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook and should also be coming soon. We plan to add a few more items in the coming months that should please Palladium gamers. We are also planning to move forward with PDF only editions of The Rifter® #0.1 and The Rifter® #0.2 – both are big, juicy digital editions of new, fan created material for the Palladium Megaverse® of games.

Don’t forget, DriveThruRPG.com also offers the Rifts® and Palladium Fantasy® Game Master Kits (both written by Carl Gleba and complete with maps, combat matrix, character sheets, spell list, and 20 pre-rolled characters created by Julius Rosenstein; $5 each). Of course, there are FREE Sneak Previews of Endless Dead™, Rifts® Lemuria, Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms™, and Thundercloud Galaxy™, as well as 90+ out of print titles, including back issues of The Rifter®, and first edition rule books for Rifts®, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited™, The Mechanoid Invasion® Trilogy, and lots of other good things. ALL available as PDF downloads at reasonable prices. And there is MORE to come.

UPDATE: Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles Store

On top of everything else going on, Alex and I continue to add Palladium collectibles as well as a large number of collectible toys and action figures to my online store. More will be added all weekend long as well as more new items every few days for the next several weeks. Right now they include proofreader copies of books, Palladium gold editions, some artwork, some art prints, and other good stuff. Most Palladium items are signed by me, Alex and other Palladium creators. We’ll keep them coming if you keep buying them. http://stores.ebay.com/kevinstoys-artandcollectibles

Calls to Ultimate Insiders & Benefactors

With the holiday on the Fourth and our intense focus to get new books finished (I’ve been a man possessed) I have not made calls to the remaining Lemuria Insiders or the new Northern Gun™ One folks. Like I said last week, let me get a book or two to the printer first. Thanks. YOU are not forgotten. ;) Keep the faith and game on! I truly look forward to chatting with you.

Gen Con® Indy – Palladium Book® – Booth #1125

Gen Con Indy is next month already! Man, time is flying by. Palladium will be there with new and old releases, original artwork, prints and lots of books. Come on over to chat, buy stuff, and get books signed by me, Wayne Smith, Chuck Walton, Matthew Clements, Brandon Aten, Mark Oberle and maybe a few others. It will be grand fun.

There is so much more going on

Things feel like they are popping faster than Fourth of July firecrackers at Palladium these past few months. And for a change, it is all good news. I talk about a lot of what’s going in The Rifter® #59 and I’ll share more in the next Weekly Update. For now, I need to get back to finishing some books. Game on!

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer and Grandpa

NEW! The Rifter® #59 – Ships in July

The Rifter® is an idea factory that helps players and Game Masters to generate new ideas and keep their games fresh. It provides useful, ready to go, source material gamers can just drop into their ongoing games. A doorway to new possibilities and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. It offers new monsters, villains, characters, O.C.C.s, powers, magic, weapons, adventure and ideas for your games. It presents new villains, monsters and dangers to battle, and new ideas to consider. Every issue has material for Rifts® and at least two or three other Palladium game lines.

The Rifter® Number 59 examines the deadly, the weird and the magical. Much of the material is suitable for use in multiple settings or easy to adapt. Enjoy.

The Rifter® #59 includes:

Palladium Fantasy® – Olympic-style games, adventure and intrigue on the Island of Lopan, by Paul Herbert.

Splicers® – The Pack Mentality features the Packmaster and the genetically altered animals at his command. Written by Brandon Aten and Michael Orr.

All Settings: Rules for Explosives for any Palladium setting – a very helpful article by Thomas Morrison.

Various Settings: Techno-Wizardry Across the Megaverse® by Anthony Lovato.

Various Settings: The Kezel™are weird, new superhumans for use in Rifts® Chaos Earth™, Rifts®, Phase World®, Heroes Unlimited™ and even Palladium Fantasy®. Part Two concludes the many super abilities. Written by Joseph Larsen.

Rifts® Sourcebook Two: The Mechanoids®

– Back in Print – Available now

Archie 3 and Hagan Lonovich are two of the most beloved villains (anti-heroes?) in the Rifts Earth setting. This sourcebook highlights their strange relationship, plots and blunders. One of which is inadvertently unleashing The Mechanoids® into the world!

The Mechanoids have one driving goal: To destroy all humanoid life! This book has it all. Source material, the Mechanoids, new equipment, monsters, adventure and cryptic prophecies.

The prophecies of the Seven Dangers.

20+ Mechanoids and their robot legion.

Optional Mechanoids® Player Characters and character sheets.

Archie Three and Hagan: Heroes or villains?

The weapons and robot minions of Hagan Lonovich.

New creations from Archie Three and Hagan, plus more history and insight about the unlikely duo.

Cyber-Knights™: A Rifts® Coalition Wars® Sourcebook:

– Back in Print – Available now

The Coalition’s siege on Tolkeen has had a devastating impact on people across North America. None have been more affected than the Cyber-Knights. This sourcebook reveals not only the history and secrets of the Cyber-Knights, but the schism the war has created among the fabled warriors.

Rifts® Black Market™ – A Rifts® Sourcebook

The Black Market is the most prevalent trader in weapons, magic items, drugs, and contraband outlawed by the Coalition. Explore the day to day business of the North American Black Market along with its smuggling routes, practices, policies and notable nefarious products and services. Learn about the five major Black Market factions in North America and foreign groups like the Yakuza, Green Scarf Sect and the Underground Railroads of Atlantis and the Vampire Kingdoms.

Many Black Market O.C.C.s.

The Five Black Market factions that wield the greatest power in North America: Bandito Arms, The Chicago Network, The Immaterial Hand, El Oculta, and Le Marche Noir.

Black Market internal operations and security.

Black Market services, products, practices and customers.

More equipment from Bandito Arms and specialized smuggling gear.

A wide range of Big Bore weapons and other merc weapons.

Black Market criminal assignments, jobs and mercenary bounties.

Major Black Market smuggling corridors and routes through Coalition territory.

Smuggling methods, both magical and conventional.

Traveling Shows: Freak Shows, Medicine Shows and Circuses.

Traveling Shows as fronts for the Black Market.

Traveling Black Market Merchants, Market Towns and Market Outlets.

How the Coalition States deals with organized crime, and information on the Coalition prison system and border security.

Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook™

In final production right now. Unknown to most humans, deep within Mexico the vampires have established entire kingdoms. There they live like tyrants and gods, dominating an underclass of cattle people used as slaves and food stock. Learn more about the vampires, their rivals, allies and the humans who willingly serve their supernatural masters for a chance to join the undead. A must-have guide for those who wish to travel deeper into the Vampire Kingdoms or play as vampires and their human minions.

More human kingdoms within Mexico like the Tampico Military Protectorate and Durango, the Silver City.

Firefighting robots, hover firetrucks and more anti-vampire gear.

Magic based Vampire Hunters and human strongholds.

Techno-Wizard anti-vampire weapons and magical devices.

Profiles for Doc Reid and Reid’s Rangers, the world’s most famous Vampire Hunters.

Fort Reid, an entire city devoted to hunting the undead.

The Bloodwatch, a secret vampire intelligence agency that tracks down and exterminates Vampire Hunters.

The Yucatan Peninsula, a mysterious dimensional pocket overrun by strange demons known as Xibalbans.

The return of the Mayan god Camazotz, Lord of Bats and Darkness.

The werebeasts of Mexico and Central America; those who assist the vampires and those who fight against them.

Rifts® World Book 33: Northern Gun™ One – New

Northern Gun™ is the largest independent manufacturer of high-tech weapons, robots and vehicles in North America. Outside of the Coalition States, one could argue, no other kingdom is as powerful or influential, at least when it comes to technology and weapons. The manufacture and sale of Northern Gun weapons and vehicles has given virtually every kingdom, town, colony of settlers and adventurer group a chance to survive and prosper. Located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, NG has been the premier outfitter of mercenaries, adventurers and upstart kingdoms for generations. Now, for the first time ever, learn Northern Gun’s history, goals and plans for the future. Of course, that means new weapons, robots, power armor, vehicles and gear.

In-depth look at Northern Gun: its business operations and its community.

Rifts® World Book 35: Megaverse® in Flames™

The Minion War spills across Rifts Earth, where demons and infernals hope to recruit allies and use the Rifts as gateways of destruction. Their influence shakes things up across the planet, especially at locations where demons and Deevils already have a strong presence. Demons, Deevils and supernatural beings run rampant and wreak havoc across the world.

Demon plagues and mystic blights.

Soulmancy and Blood Magic revealed.

Magical and demonic weapons and war machines.

Demonic armies, strongholds and places of evil.

Hell Pits and Rune Forges.

Many Demon Lords, their minions and plans.

Calgary, the Kingdom of Monsters; in detail.

Ciudad de Diablo, Harpies’ Island and other notable Hell holes on Earth.

Lord Doom, Pain and other demonic leaders.

Horune treachery, Dimension Stormers and other villains.

Notable demonic generals, mercenaries, people and places.

Battleground: Earth – as demons and infernals amass their legions.

Global chaos and the places most dramatically affected by the Demon Plagues.

PDF downloads from DriveThruRPG.com

This is a great resource for getting out of print Palladium titles and other select books. We’ve made 90 titles available as PDF digital downloads from DriveThruRPG.com. This is a great way to try Palladium products and get access to out of print RPG source material. Some notable titles include.

Recent Product Releases – available now

Dead Reign™ Sourcebook 3: Endless Dead™ – Available now

Endless Dead™ is a new 96 page sourcebook that will send your Dead Reign™ campaign in new directions or add depth (and zombies). What are you waiting for? Order your copy today. And if you haven’t taken a look at the Dead Reign™ RPG yet, but love zombies, you need to give this dynamic game a try.

Classic Rifts® Miniatures – Back in stock

The following favorite Rifts® miniatures are back in stock. Some, like the Glitter Boy, have sold on the collector’s market for as much as $50-$120. They are being re-released for the first time in a decade.

Approximately 25 mm in size.

Each figure is an unpainted, pewter miniature. Some assembly and cleaning may be required.

Sold as a single, individual figure in a plastic bag and comes with a black, 30 mm or 40 mm plastic base.

Prices vary according to size, but range from $6-20 retail.

Sorry, not currently available in stores. Available only from Palladium Books.